Hugo's Question
by alicehamesrose
Summary: Hugo is a curious boy with lots of questions. Recently, something has been nagging him but he isn't sure how to ask, or if he has the gut.


A/N: Hope you like this fic! All characters belong to JK Rowling in her works of Harry Potter.

* * *

Hugo had been thinking on this for a couple of weeks now and he couldn't get it out of his head. He just had to know. But he feared that his mum would smile sweetly and get all cuddly with his dad, which wasn't the answer Hugo desired. And he most definitely didn't want to be mocked by his older sister, Rose.

It was summer holidays, Rose was in her room studying while his mum, Hermione, did some boring paperwork to do with her job. Hugo enjoyed his time in front of the TV, while he was a non-violent person Hugo did like _Tom and Jerry_. His show ended so the question had come back to nag him again. Hugo looked over the back of the couch and saw his dad cleaning the pans in the kitchen. Hugo looked down at his now empty mug that had Donald Duck's face on it in 3D. _Do it, do it, do it_ Hugo thought to himself. _Do it now or you'll never get the chance._ Hugo stood up from the couch and slowly walked to the kitchen, looking down at his mug as though it was telling him _Do it, do it, do it._ Hugo looked up at his dad, who looked a little worn out by the onion burnt onto the frying pan. Hugo put his mug on the bench beside him, but his dad took no notice. "Dad?" Hugo said.

"Yes, Hugo?" Ron was expecting one of Hugo's many, unprovoked questions like _How do you make bread?_ Or _How did Disney make the drawings move?_ "Can I ask you something?" said Hugo. Ron tried to not let it show he had to mentally prepare himself for Hugo's challenging questions. "Go ahead,"

"Why did you decide to marry mum?"

Ron felt a little taken aback. Hugo was definitely one for questions, without a doubt, but he never was so personal. Ron's brow furrowed, he paused and his stomach dropped a little at the daunting task ahead, "Because I loved her, still love her." Ron continued with the pan with the burnt onion that wouldn't budge.

"Well, I know _that_ ," said Hugo, feeling somewhat dissatisfied with his dad's simplistic explanation. "Oh, do you now?" said Ron.

"Yes, it's obvious,"

"Obvious," repeated Ron as he scraped at the pan.

"Yes, really obvious. But that's not what I want to know,"

"Oh? What do you want to know?" Ron continued to scrape at the pan. Hugo thought it was about time to give it up and try again later, but he didn't say so.

Hugo cocked his head as he tried to think how to phrase his question. "How did you know? I mean, how did you figure it out?"

"How did I know? I loved her," Ron said, his brain somewhat occupied by the persistent burnt pan.

"No, but when did you figure out you wanted to _marry_ her?"

"Ok, how about you rinse out your mug and then we can talk about it on the couch when I'm done, I've only got one pan left."

Hugo went over to the sink and rinsed out his mug and then put it on the drying rack. Hugo went back to the couch where the cartoons continued to play but Hugo didn't like this show as much, so he looked at his thumbs as he twiddled them. Eventually, he heard his dad's loud steps as he tiredly walked over before sinking into the couch next to Hugo, who tucked his legs under himself in anticipation. "What is it do you want to know?" Ron asked.

Hugo turned to his dad who seemed pretty relieved to be off his feet. Hugo racked his brains for a way to phrase his question that will get him more than his last answer of _love._ "How did you know or when did you figure out that you wanted to marry mum?"

Ron nodded as he pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking. "You want the a-ha moment," Ron gestured with his hand.

"Yeah, exactly!" Hugo felt a like balloon in his stomach was letting out air.

Ron moved his hand from his nose and looked at Hugo as though trying to read him. "You're sure you want to know this? It's pretty difficult."

"Yes, I'm sure!"

His dad sat up, took the remote from the coffee table and muted the TV before leaning in to talk to Hugo. "You know we all went through really tough stuff, right? Me, your mum, Uncle Harry, Auntie Ginny..." Hugo nodded fervently.

"Well, bad things stay with you, you know that right?"

"Yes, like memories."

"Yes, like memories. And you know how something in your memories shows up in your dreams sometimes?"

"Yes..."

"And in nightmares too."

Hugo nodded again. He started to realise he didn't know how his dad was going to take his question and where he was going to go with it.

"Well, sometimes our bad memories come into our nightmares. And they were really bad nightmares. The kind that wakes you up and makes you scared to go back to sleep."

Hugo detected a sadness in his father's eyes but he let him continue.

"These bad dreams come and go, and sometimes they aren't so bad. But about three years or so, after the war, your mum was having really terrible nightmares, so bad she couldn't go back to sleep. She had them night after night and she would cry really bad."

Hugo nodded slowly, feeling some regret about his question.

"It was like that every night for two or so months. And I would have to wake up and calm her down and hug her and make her cups of tea. I hated seeing your mum so sad, but I knew I would do it again and again so long as I knew she was ok. But I also knew that it wasn't good for her, and she needed to see someone. I knew I would do almost anything in the world to make your mum feel ok again. And that's how I knew. I knew that if I felt better with your mum holding her night after night and taking her to the doctor than I did alone, I must love her enough to marry her. That's how I knew. Obviously, that's not the part I like most about our relationship. It's not what made me love her or want to marry her, do you understand?"

Hugo looked down at his hands and nodded.

"Now, come on, time to brush your teeth and get to bed." Ron stood up and a lightly patted Hugo on the back.

* * *

That night Hermione tucked Hugo into bed. She looked tired from all her boring papers. Hugo tried to study his mum, trying to see farther back before his own existence, but he couldn't. There were some things he knew from photos and stories but there were some things that he was missing in the puzzle of his mother.

"Ok, good night Hugo,"

"Ok, good night Mum."

Hermione touched his cheek, kissed him on his forehead and stood up to leave. Just before she was about to switch off the light by his bedroom door Hugo said, "Have sweet dreams," thinking of his mother's nightmares.

She smiled back at him, "You too, sweetheart."

* * *

Hermione settled in next Ron wearing a powder blue pyjama set, leaning on his chest as he sat in their bed, thinking. Ron instinctively wrapped his arm around Hermione and began to draw circles on her arm. "You know what Hugo asked me tonight?"

"What did Hugo ask you?" Hermione said with a little laugh in her voice thinking of her son's out-of-blue, innocent curiosities.

"He asked me, 'Dad, when did you know you wanted to marry mum?'"

Hermione turned to look up at Ron and he looked down at her with an expression that said, _I'm not kidding, do I look like I'm kidding?_

"It seemed it's been bothering him for a little bit too, how long I don't know."

"What did you say?" asked Hermione who sat up completely, her body twisted around to look at Ron. "I haven't heard this story, I want to hear it too!"

"Are you sure? It's not a happy one."

Hermione slumped slightly and returned to her spot against Ron. "Yes, I'm sure."

Ron began drawing his circles again, "Do you remember when you started getting those nightmares every night for two months three years after the war?"

Hermione sank into him a little more, "yes."

"And I woke up every night to help you get back to sleep with a cup of tea and some cuddles?"

Hermione sank a little further. 'Yes," Hermione mumbled.

"Well, I remember thinking, when I was away for the Aurors and I kept thinking about how I missed you and how much I worried that you were coping without me. And when I got back I was exhausted, but I was so happy to see you. And that night the nightmares continued and I remember thinking to myself, 'I could do this for the rest of my life if it'd make Hermione happy'."

Hermione looked up at Ron but he was staring off into corner between their chest of drawers and the reading station.

"But I also knew that it wouldn't, and I knew you needed help. So we talked about it, and you agreed that it wasn't healthy and we went to a doctor. And that's when I knew. When I was thinking, 'I would do this if I had to'. And I still would."

Ron glanced quickly down at Hermione and saw that she had been overcome with emotion. "When I sure you were doing better," Ron picked up the hand that belonged to that arm he had been drawing circles on, "I went out and bought a ring." Ron stroked her the engagement and wedding band on her ring finger.

"It took you a whole 6 months to propose?" Hermione said in a wobbly voice.

"Five," Ron corrected.

"Five months?" Hermione barely whispered.

"I had to get it right, didn't I?" Ron finally looked down at Hermione properly, whose eyes were watering and overall general expression was, _Oh, Ron. Oh, Ron. Oh, Ron,_ over and over again. Hermione sat up touched Ron's cheek and kissed him. And again. And again. And again.

* * *

A/N: This story came about when I was thinking about how Ron would have helped Hermione with nightmares (if they came and went with waves or the tide). I also imagine Hugo to be a quite a smart, sweet, sensitive, curious boy in who is quite in tune with reading others emotions even if he doesn't entirely understand them at his age.


End file.
